A Rose So Sweet
by Suzuki Mi-chan
Summary: Eriol thought he had the perfect life. That is, until a mysterious woman steps in. Is she really all she says she is? Please R&R!


A twenty-two Hiiragizawa Eriol walked into a fairly empty and small shrine shop one winter afternoon. He really had no clue why he was there. Suddenly, he stooped down to a grey book with cherry blossoms on it. He then noticed a young woman about his age stooped down next to him, looking at the book. "Do you like cherry blossoms too?" She asked him. "Yes. They're my favorite flower," Eriol replied. The woman nodded. "Mine too." Eriol picked the book up, walked over to the cashier, and paid for it. The cashier put it in a bag and advised Eriol to have a nice day. The dark haired man walked out of the store and waited a few minutes until the woman he had met came out. "Didn't get what you wanted?" he asked, holding the bag out to her. "Huh?! You'd give that notebook to a total stranger?" The woman was startled. "You're not a total stranger. Don't you remember me, Sakura-chan?" Eriol was beginning to get confused. "Sakura-chan? Oh, no no no no. I believe you have me confused with someone else." The woman smiled at Eriol.  
It's kind of hard to believe that the young woman was mistaken for Sakura Kinomoto. She looked nothing like the former cardcaptor. For starters, this woman had elbow length strawberry blonde hair. It was all up in a black french hat except for two loose chunks that hung loose on either side of her head and swept her elbows. Sakura's was a little longer after ten years, but it was still that honey brown color. The black french hat was already stated, but the woman was also wearing a black turtleneck sweater, black biking gloves, black jeans, and to top it all off, black boots. The woman obviously liked the color black. Sakura would be more likely to wear bright, neon green than black. This woman's skin was like cream colored porcelain with a hint of light pink at her cheeks. Sakura's skin was more rosy. But what really gave it away was the woman's eyes. They sparkled like light sapphires, whereas the young cherry blossom's were like emeralds. Eriol couldn't help it. For some reason, when he was near the beautiful woman, he sensed Sakura.   
"Oh, I'm very sorry. You looked so familiar, and the fact that your favorite flower is cherry blossoms didn't help much," Eriol finally responded, after studying the woman closely. "Who are you?" She seemed intrested in getting to know him. "Uhh... Err..... I'm Hiiragizawa Eriol." "Nice to meet you! I'm Gensai Hitomi!" Hitomi shook Eriol's hand politly. Eriol's heart started beating faster and faster. The last time he had felt like this was when he had been around Kaho Mizuki, who he had been separated with for at least five years. 'No.... No no no. I can't be in love. I just met this woman!' Eriol shook all the thoughts about being in love with Hitomi out of his head and regretfully let go of her hand. "I was just about to go across the street for pizza. Do you wanna come?" Hitomi pointed to the Pizza Hut less than two hundred yards in front of them. "Uh... Umm.... Uh... Sure!" Eriol didn't know how he had accepted.  
They walked over to Hitomi's car, a black Toyota Camery, and drove there.   
The restraunt was empty, with the excepton of an elderly couple in front eating salads. In the corner, a jukebox was playing a new Shania Twain song. Then, as Eriol was staring at Hitomi, their waitress came up. "Hi! Welcome to Pizza Hut! My name's Keiko and I'll be your server. Just ignore the sign. You can seat yourselves." Keiko kicked away the 'Please Wait To Be Seated' sign. Hitomi started walking to a booth near a window when she noticed Eriol wasn't comming, He seamed in a daze. "Hello? Hiiragizawa?" She waved her hands in front of his face until he woke up. "Sorry." Eriol apologized. He and Hitomi walked to the booth that Hitomi had aimed for. They ordered their pizza and talked for a while until it came. It was pineapple and ham. Then they ate. On their second piece, Eriol realized something. He lifted up the notebook to Hitomi. "You forgot something," he said as he slipped it into Hitomi's hands. "Oh...... Thank you!" Hitomi smiled and went on eating. Eriol sighed, smiled, and forced himself to finish the pizza, which he hated. 


End file.
